Many wireless communications devices, especially those developed to operate under the guidelines of IEEE standard 802.11, use the same frequency band(s) that are used by other communications devices (e.g., Bluetooth devices, cordless telephones, etc.) and common appliances such as microwave ovens (although conventional microwave ovens don't communicate wirelessly, their magnetrons emit radio frequency signals in the same frequency band). Since these devices are not designed to cooperatively share the frequency spectrum with 802.11-compliant networks, they may emit radio frequency signals at any time and interfere with the operation of such a network. The resulting interference can disrupt communications. As wireless communications devices in the home and workplace become more common, the incidence of this interference is expected to increase. As time-critical wireless transmissions such as video streaming become more common, the effect of this interference may become more disruptive.